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THOMAS] INDIAN LANGUAGES OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 67
followed in this respect in the map accompanying this paper, though
Stoll has been the writer's guide as to the portion in Guatemala.
IXIL
This dialect is placed by Stoll in his Mam division of the Mayan stock.
As the language is now well enough understood to classify it properly,
it is necessary that we note here only the habitat. Stoll, the author-
ity followed in this case, locates the area occupied by the tribe slightly
west of the center of Guatemala, including the pueblos of Nebaj,
•Cotzal, and Chajul as the chief centers of population. As given by
him, the Rio Negro or Chixoy formed the eastern boundary of the
tribal territory at the time to which his map relates. The reduced
area given by Sapper is inchided in that given by Stoll. According
to the latter, it lay between the Mam area on the west and that of the
Kekchi on the east, joining the Kiche territory on the south.
Aguacateca
This idiom also is placed by Stoll and philologists generally in the
Mam division. The small area occupied by the tribe included Aguacateca
and the present Huehuetenango, joining the Mam area on the
north and west, and the Kiche territory on the east and south. The
reduced area given by Sapper falls within the bounds indicated
by Stoll. Although the dialect agrees most nearly wdth Mam,
the strong influence of the neighboring Kiche and Ixil dialects is
apparent in the vocabulary.
Kiche
(Synonym: Quiche)
The Kiche (or Quiche) dialect is second in importance and terri-
torial extent only to the Maya (proper) of the languages of the
Mayan stock; however, it is now so well known that comments are
unnecessary here. Stoll makes it the basis of his Kiche division
of the stock. The area occupied by the tribe was and still is quite
extensive, including considerable territory in central Guatemala
about the headwaters of Rio Motagua, and extending thence around
the western side of Lake Atitlan southward to the Pacific Ocean, this
southern extension being in contact with the Mam territory on the
west and the Cakchikel territory on the east. Included are the following
among the more important towns or pueblos: Santa Ciniz
Quiche, Rabinal, Totonicapan, Quetzaltenango, and Mazatenango.
The somewhat diminished area designated by Sapper is included in
the bounds given by Stoll.
Cakchikel
This is one of the dialects embraced by Stoll in his Kiche division:
it is, in fact, but a subdialect of the Kiche. The tribe lives in the